Artist’s Illustration of Rubin Observatory Capturing Supernovae

This illustration depicts NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory capturing light from supernovae, the explosive deaths of massive stars. These cosmic beacons are important for studying the expansion of the Universe. In particular, Type Ia supernovae serve as “standard candles” to measure cosmic distances. By observing thousands of supernovae across vast regions of the sky, Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will provide the largest sample of Type Ia supernovae yet, helping scientists refine the Universe's expansion rate and gain deeper insights into the mysterious “dark energy” driving its acceleration.